Second Chances
by fufulupin
Summary: Tobias and Rachel get another shot. Pretty much fluff straight from the mind of...me. grin


Disclaimer: Don't own nothing. This just popped into my head and I decided to write it down.  
  
A dark space. Construction site. So dark, so enclosed. I wasn't supposed to be here...And then! Then the ship and the blue alien and the slugs and the cube....the blue cube.  
Animals. So many, racing, racing. Tigers, wolves, lions...hawks. I screamed, but nothing came out, nothing human. Just the shrieking of a bird of prey.  
A boy stood beside me, a boy with a proud stance and blond hair. And a girl beside him, with gentle eyes. Another boy, short, darker. And a second girl...graceful, tall, blond...  
Rachel.  
And then there was me. Gangly, with dark blond hair that didn't obey. Dreamy eyes. A serious expression.  
Fighting, so much fighting. I was trapped! Two hours had come and gone and now I was flying. Forever.  
The polar bear. Her proud stance as Rachel took the final blow. Tears raced down my cheeks as I screamed her name, as she said her last words:  
"I love you."  
"NOO!"  
I sat upright in the darkness, cold sweat beading on my forehead. It was all over, I couldn't stop it. I groaned as the painful memories hit.  
And then I did a double-take. Someone was next to me. A body. Breathing, chest moving. Golden hair draped over a still-innocent face. My heart stopped as I reached out, trailing unsure fingers across her cheek, tangling my hand in her hair. She smiled in her sleep, nestling her face against my hand.  
My hand. Skin, fingers. No feathers, no wings. Throwing the bedspread off of me, I looked down at my bare chest, my flannel pants and my feet. My toes. No ripping talons, no short stocky legs meant for a bird.  
No hawk.  
I inhaled sharply and turned my attention back to the human girl beside me. A goddess, a strong warrior. How was she here?  
"Rachel," I whispered softly. Was it an illusion? Had to be. She couldn't still be here, not when I had seen the end. I had seen her take that blow...  
There was a mirror stretched across the far wall. I looked into it and saw, not the boy I had been, but a man. My hair was a bit longer, my face more rugged. The barest trace of a beard stroked my chin. I touched my cheek reflexively.  
This was me? How? I was a Bird-boy, trapped forever. And yet...  
My gaze shot back to the woman. She was older too, but still beautiful, still Rachel. Still the girl I had loved, would always love. I touched her again, making sure she was real. Not a dream. Somehow, I knew it wasn't a dream.  
Standing gingerly, I went to the dresser. Photographs adorned the oaken top, all placed carefully. I lifted one and stared at it.  
The five of us, younger. Jake, with his arm around Cassie's shoulders. Marco, with a sardonic expression. Rachel, with her hand entwined with mine, smiling broadly. Me, with an enraptured expression as I gazed at the camera.  
Another picture. Rachel and I, on a picnic of some kind. She was seated in my lap, grinning as she playfully tousled my hair.  
Another one. Me, in a tux. Her in a gown. Smiling like we'd never been happier in our lives. I breathed slowly. Her dress...was a wedding dress.  
I looked reflexively at my left hand. A golden band, adorned with a small etching of a hawk and an eagle. I smiled.  
Sitting back on the bed, I touched her hair lightly. She exhaled and her blue eyes fluttered open. She smiled back at me.  
"Hey." She stretched, sitting up and taking my hand. I watched her closely.  
"Morning." As she pressed a light kiss to my palm, she grinned that Rachel grin. Fearless and warm and loving. I took her into my arms.  
A memory. We were flying, together, an eagle and a hawk. We soared on warm thermals to a small cove that no one else knew about. Landing, we demorphed...well, no, that wasn't true. She demorphed, I morphed to human. And I dug lightly in a small tan pouch.  
It was the year 2004. We were 22 years old and I was about to make the biggest decision of my life. I patted the pouch, then grinned at her. We went down to the water and I lifted her into the air with clumsy human arms and spun her around, dropping her into an incoming wave. She shrieked, pulled me down with her.  
An hour and fifty seven minutes later. She looked at me with worried eyes.  
"Demorph," she told me. "It's almost too late."  
I smiled slyly, hand going back into that pouch and drawing out a small band. She gasped, tears forming. I slipped it on her hand, then kissed her softly. We sat back as the sun faded beneath the horizon.  
And the time passed.  
She looked up at me now and smiled. "Are you okay? You seem quiet."  
I didn't answer. I remember that day so vividly, the day I proposed and became human. The day I sacrificed my wings.  
And another day. The day where Marco and Jake and I stood in tuxes and I waited nervously for her to come down that infinitely long isle with Cassie and her sisters trailing behind her. And the words of the priest and the kiss that made us one.  
And another day. The one where I held her hand so tightly as she gritted her teeth. Marco stood in the corner, flinching. Jake had his eyes closed. Cassie whispered soothing words. And my son was born.  
"Hey, are you awake yet?" Rachel laughed that sweet freeing laugh and I grinned at her. It was real, all of it.  
"Yeah, I'm awake." I drew her hand closer and she ruffled my hair affectionately.  
"Well, then, maybe we should get Toby. He's crying, I can hear him." She climbed out of bed, then looked back and, taking my face in her hands, kissed me warmly.  
I nodded as she went to fetch our little boy. And, as I made to follow, I heard a voice that wasn't truly a voice.  
*Are you happy, Tobias?* the Ellimist asked. I nodded.  
"Yes. I really am." A/N: I'm sorry that Ax isn't here. I didn't mean to leave him out, but he wasn't all that relevant, soo... 


End file.
